CHAPTER 4.

CONCERNING THE SOLDIERS' RELIEF DEPARTMENT.

Section one of chapter thirty-two of the Revised Ordinances of 1914 is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words: The commissioner may appoint, subject to the approval of the mayor, two deputy commissioners who shall have such powers and perform such duties as the commissioner may determine.

[Approved by Mayor, April 9, 1925.

CHAPTER 5.

CONCERNING THE SALARIES OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS.

SECTION 1. Chapter eight of the Revised Ordinances of 1914, as amended by chapter ten of the Ordinances of 1920 and by chapter five of the Ordinances of 1921, is hereby further amended by striking out section three, and inserting in place thereof the following:

Section 3. There shall be in the building department a board of examiners, consisting of three members, who shall exercise the powers and perform the duties hereinafter provided. Each member shall receive ten dollars for every day or part thereof of actual service; the compensation for the chairman shall not exceed one thousand two hundred dollars and for each of the other members one thousand dollars, in any one year. SECT. 2. This ordinance shall take effect beginning with the first day of February, 1925. [Approved by Mayor, June 23, 1925.

REGULATION OF BUILDING HEIGHTS.

[Stat. 1904, Chap. 333; Stat. 1905, Chap. 383; Stat. 1907, Chap. 416; Stat. 1912, Chap. 582; Stat. 1914, Chap. 786; Spec. Stat. 1915, Chap. 333; Spec. Stat. 1919, Chap. 156; Stat. 1920, Chap. 455; Stat. 1922, Chap. 174.]

In 1904 the Legislature provided that the City of Boston should be divided into two districts, designated as Districts A and B, and that if not repugnant to some other statute, buildings could be erected in District A to a height of 125 feet, but that except as to certain projections above the roof, no buildings could be erected in District B to a height greater than 80 feet. A commission fixed the boundaries of these districts and they were intended to remain in effect until 1919.

In 1915 a new commission was appointed, consisting of the Chairman of the City Planning Board, the Fire Commissioner and the Building Commissioner, who filed their order in the Registry of Deeds on November 2, 1916, to remain in force for ten years, and superseding the order of 1904 as to the boundaries of Districts A and B.

DISTRICT A. The boundaries established begin at the intersection of Wauwatosa st. and Chelsea creek (Ward 1, East Boston), thence extend easterly through Wauwatosa and Boardman sts. to Saratoga st., thence southwesterly and westerly through Saratoga and Addison sts. to the B. & M. R.R., thence along said railroad to Saratoga st., thence through Saratoga st. to Neptune rd., Eagle sq., Eagle, Glendon and Condor sts. to Meridian st., thence southerly through Meridian, Gove, Orleans and Marginal sts. to Jeffries st. thence northeasterly to Maverick st. and through same to the B., R. B. & L. R.R., thence along latter to the center of Porter st. extended, thence through Porter, Bremen and Prescott sts. to the B., R. B. & L. R.R., thence along said railroad to the northern boundary of Wood Island (now World War Memorial) Park (Ward 1), thence easterly along same to the harbor line, thence along said line of Boston Harbor and Chelsea creek to the point of beginning. These are the East Boston boundaries of District A.

The boundaries in Charlestown begin at the Malden Bridge (Ward 2), thence extend southerly through Alford st. to Sullivan sq., thence southeasterly through Bunker Hill and Medford sts. to Chelsea st. thence southerly through latter to Henley st., thence westerly through same, Harvard sq. and Harvard st. to Washington st., thence through latter and Rutherford ave. northwesterly to Sullivan sq., thence through Cambridge st. to the City line, thence along said line and the Charles river to Charlestown Bridge, thence along the harbor line and the Mystic river to the point of beginning.

In the City proper the boundaries begin at the intersection of the City line with the Charles river dam (Ward 3), thence extend along said dam and Leverett st. to Green st., thence through Green, Staniford and Cambridge sts. to Bowdoin st., thence southerly through same, Beacon, Park and Tremont sts. to Boylston st., thence through latter, Massachusetts ave. and the line of the N. Y., N. H. & H. R.R. (Providence Div.) to Tremont st. at Roxbury Crossing, thence through Columbus ave., Roxbury st., Guild row and Dudley st. to Columbia rd. (Upham's Corner), thence through same to Dorchester ave., thence southerly to Park st. (Ward 16), and through latter and Adams st. to Neponset ave., thence through said avenue to the N. Y., N. H. & H. R.R. (Milton Branch), thence along said railroad and through Granite ave. to the Neponset river, thence easterly and northerly along the shore of said river and the harbor lines of Dorchester bay and Old Harbor to the intersection of Old Colony ave. and Columbia rd., thence northerly along Old Colony ave. to E st. (South Boston), thence through latter, Broadway, Dorchester and East Second sts. to I st., thence northerly through I to East First st. and easterly through latter to Farragut rd., thence northerly through same and Farragut rd. extended across the reserved channel, thence along the harbor line of South Boston to Northern Avenue Bridge, thence westerly along said bridge to the harbor line of Boston Proper, thence northerly and westerly along said harbor line and Charles river to the point of beginning.

Wherever a boundary line of District A is described as following a certain street, the same is intended to include all property on that side of the street which lies within the described area, and also that portion of all lots on the opposite side of the street, abutting on the street, but extending to a depth of not more than 150 feet.

DISTRICT B comprises all territory in the City outside the boundaries above described. In this district buildings may in general be erected to a height of not more than 80 feet, but on streets exceeding 64 feet in width the height may be equal to one and a quarter times the width of the widest street upon which the building stands, said height to be measured from the mean grade of the curbs of all streets upon which the building is situated and not to exceed in any event 100 feet above such point of measurement. On all streets or portions of streets upon which buildings may be erected on one side only, the buildings may be erected to a height of 100 feet. No building may be erected to a height greater than 80 feet unless its width on each and every public street upon which it stands be at least one-half its height. Certain special exceptions to the general regulations affecting District B have been made as follows:

No building can be erected on a parkway, boulevard or public way on which a building line has been established by the Board of Park Commissioners or by the Board of Street Commissioners acting under any general or special statute, to a greater height than that allowed by the order of said Boards.

No building upon any land, any owner of which has received and retained compensation in damages for any limitation of height, or who retains any claim for such damages, can be erected to a height greater than that fixed by the limitation for which such damages were received or claimed. No limitation of the height of buildings applies to churches, steeples, towers, domes, cupolas, belfries or statuary not used for purposes of habitation, nor to chimneys, gas holders, coal or grain elevators, open balustrades, skylights, ventilators, flagstaffs, railings, weather vanes, soil pipes, steam exhausts, signs, roof-houses, nor to sugar refineries in District A.

By Chap. 156, Special Acts of 1919, section four of Chap. 383, Acts of 1905, was amended so as to allow roof-houses, skylights, etc., above the roof line, used to enclose elevator shafts, an additional space of four feet on all sides (or 16 feet square in all), but not to exceed 12 feet in height. All such roof structures of first-class buildings may be constructed of angle iron and four-inch blocks, plastered inside and outside, or covered on both sides with metal or angle iron, and two-inch solid metal lath and plaster walls may be used, the door to be of metal frame and covered with metal.

The limitation as to size of roof-houses was revoked by Chap. 174, Acts of 1922, and the requirements concerning such were left to the discretion of the Building Commissioner.

In 1923, by Chap. 462, sec. 11, a maximum building height of 15 feet (instead of 125 feet as before) was permitted for buildings in District A.

BOUNDARIES

OF THE

TWENTY-TWO WARDS

AS FIXED IN 1924.

WARD BOUNDARIES.

[ACCORDING TO THE REDIVISION OF 1924.]

Acting under the authority of Chapter 410, Acts of 1924, a special commission of eleven members of the State Legislature, all citizens of Boston, redivided the territory of the City, establishing on Dec. 30, 1924, the boundaries of 22 wards as below.

Throughout the following descriptions the term "intersection" of streets, railroad locations, bridges, or the like, shall mean the intersection of middle lines unless otherwise clearly appearing; the phrase "through" or "to" a street, bridge, railroad location, or the like, shall mean through or to middle lines unless otherwise clearly appearing; and where (if at all) lines are mentioned as meeting or intersecting which do not technically meet or intersect, it shall be intended that such lines shall be extended for the purposes of these descriptions until they do so meet or intersect. Where the phrase "side" or "side-line" is used with reference to a bridge, street, railroad location or the like, it shall be intended to include any adjacent piers, stages or other auxiliary structures, yards, or the like, causing jogs or irregularities in such lines.

The words "shore line" or "shore line of Boston," or the like, shall, unless otherwise clearly appearing, mean the line beyond which building or wharfing-out may for the time being be legally forbidden when such line has been or shall hereafter be established, and otherwise extreme low water mark; or if on a stream from which the sea does not ebb then the thread of the stream or any boundary line in such stream between Boston and other municipality.

All portions of the City of Boston lying outside the shore line as hereinabove defined, and including all the islands in Boston Harbor within the limits of the City of Boston, are included in Ward One unless expressly included in the description of some other ward.

When streets or ways adopted as boundaries are private ways the location intended shall be taken to be the actual location on the last day of the year 1924.

WARD ONE.

(EAST BOSTON.)

Beginning at the intersection of the shore line of Boston in Chelsea creek with the westerly side of Meridian Street Bridge; thence by said westerly side of Meridian Street Bridge to its intersection with the boundary line in Chelsea creek, between Boston and Chelsea; thence by said boundary line between Boston and Chelsea, and by the boundary line between Boston and Revere in said Chelsea creek and in Belle Isle inlet,